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The lesson today at Billerica High? How to save lives

Lahey Hospital's trauma program coordinator Sandi Mackey, left, instructs Billerica High English teacher Stacia Bujnowski how to pack a wound with a bleeding control. SUN/Rick Sobey

BILLERICA -- The students are bleeding out.

First responders are at least five minutes away.

By the time they arrive, it might be too late.

As a result, teachers and school nurses are getting trained to respond to these critical situations -- when receiving care in the first few minutes is essential for survival.

"We can teach them to go from bystander to first responder," said Sandi Mackey, the trauma program coordinator at Lahey Hospital.

Lahey recently joined the "Stop The Bleed" program, and started to educate local law enforcement and first responders.

On Monday, Lahey's representatives brought the program to Billerica Memorial High School, training teachers and school nurses.

Billerica Memorial High School teachers and nurses participated in "Stop The Bleed" training on Monday. The program was established in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting. Sandi Mackey on the right, trauma program coordinator at Lahey Hospital, shows how to pack a wound with a bleeding control. On the left is Denise Moore, a nurse at the school. SUN/Rick Sobey

"You'll be the first part of the medical team before the first responders are able to arrive," Mackey told the teachers and nurses. "You at the scene should have this training, so you can make a difference between someone living and dying."

Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma. The teachers and nurses learned about the various ways to control bleeding, whether they only have their two hands to use or whether they have a full trauma first-aid kit available.

Lahey's goal is that these kits will be located in buildings, including schools, and will be placed next to AEDs.

The Stop The Bleed program started after the Sandy Hook school shooting.

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The Joint Committee to Increase Survival from Active Shooter and Intentional Mass Casualty Events was convened by the American College of Surgeons.

The committee met in Hartford, Conn., and came up with recommendations. The overarching principle is that no one should die from uncontrolled bleeding, and that all citizens should learn to stop bleeding.

The group reviewed the Sandy Hook autopsies, and realized that a large majority had preventable causes of death from hemorrhaging.

"People who are hemorrhaging can die within four minutes, so it's critical the people there can provide immediate help," Mackey said. "We saw this at the Boston Marathon, when people with little to no medical experience jumped into action and put tourniquets on people, saving lives."

The teachers and nurses learned on Monday how to properly apply pressure to stop the bleeding, how to use a tourniquet, and how to pack a wound. Joseph Devlin, Billerica paramedic supervisor, helped with the training.

Denise Moore, nurse at Billerica Memorial High School, called the training "so important."

"We live in a world where we have to know how to do this," she said. "The more people who can help out, the better."

Stacia Bujnowski, an English teacher at the school, said it's essential for them to know how to help victims.

"We need to know exactly what to do," she said. "We need to be prepared to help someone survive."

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